The present invention provides a useful apparatus and means to monitor certain vital signs of a patient under medical care where the device is particularly useful in a transport device, for example, an ambulance transporting the patient (perhaps an infant) to or between hospitals, or in transport devices, for example, in the case of infants, transporting the infant from location to location within a hospital where it is useful to maintain continuous regard to the patient heartbeat rate, body temperature and oxygen concentration inspired by the patient in the transport device or respirator.
In the care of infants requiring assistance, monitors are available in hospitals and nurseries which simultaneously provide many of the monitoring capabilities of devices in accordance with the present invention.
Other devices are available to separately monitor the functions observed by devices in accordance with the present invention but no device is known which accomplishes the combination of the individual monitoring functions with a single, extremely smooth power source.
Prior art devices, where each device monitors a single function, have generally been powered by rechargeable batteries or from AC current, as are known in the art. Because of the power available, and because only a single function is monitored, such prior art devices have not been adapted to minimize power consumption and because of the significant electrical energy required for operation, such prior art devices have not been adaptable for operation with dry cell or other nonrechargeable batteries so that operation is limited to a period of time equal to the effective discharge life of the battery, or recharge facilities must be available.
Moreover, in some instances, several of the single function monitoring devices have been provided in, for example, ambulances, but in ambulances, as in other transport devices, space is at a premium so provision of multiple devices with equal duplication of power supplies unnecessarily consumes space which could be better utilized to store other necessary equipment.
Insofar as known, no portable device is presently available with the combined capability of monitoring heartbeat, body temperature and environmental, and/or inspired oxygen of a patient utilizing a single power source and designed to operate with minimum power requirements so that readily available dry cell batteries can be utilized to furnish the necessary power for a long period of time.